ISSN:
2181-3906
2023
International scientific journal
«MODERN SCIENCE АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 2 / ISSUE 6 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
1018
CRITICAL THINKING AND ITS PECULIARITIES
Artikova Makhim Turaboy qizi
Teacher, Uzbekistan State World Languages University
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8061344
Abstract.
This article will talk about critical thinking and its benefits. Reasonable
opinions and considerations were cited throughout the article. Within the framework of the
topic, conclusions and suggestions are presented.
Key words:
critical thinking, skills, to solving problems, development, career.
КРИТИЧЕСКОЕ МЫШЛЕНИЕ И ЕГО ОСОБЕННОСТИ
Анотация.
В этой статье мы поговорим о критическом мышлении и его
преимуществах. На протяжении всей статьи приводились обоснованные мнения и
соображения. В рамках темы представлены выводы и предложения.
Ключевые слова:
критическое мышление, навыки, подход к решению проблем,
развитие, карьера.
Whether you’re aiming to improve your performance at work or simply trying to live
a more fulfilling life, you’ll need a variety of hard and soft skills to move the needle. Some
skills come naturally to some people, while others need to develop them actively.
One of these skills is critical thinking. But critical thinking itself is made up of several
types of skills that contribute to solving problems more effectively.
Let’s explore the different types of critical thinking skills and how you can start
improving them to level up your career.
What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking is the ability to analyze facts and form a judgment. It is a form
Someone with critical thinking skills can think clearly and rationally when the
situation demands it. It allows them to perform problem-solving and decision-making more
effectively.
As a result, you can look further than what you see at face value. You’re able to analyze
what you see from a situation and gain some insight that goes further than what’s obvious to
anyone from the outside.
Critical thinking also requires being able to understand the logi cal connection between
two or more ideas or concepts. For example, a team working on a company’s pricing strategy
needs to think critically about several concepts.
Both the marketing and sales teams must work together. They need to analyze how to
maximize sales. But they need to do so while also meeting profit goals. It’s important to
understand the logical connection between sales strategy and marketing logistics. It’s the only
way to get a good outcome.
Critical thinking is different from creative thinking. Creative thinking is the ability to
generate brand new, innovative ideas. On the other hand, critical thinking requires you to
carefully and logically analyze what information is given to you. Both are important to
maximize results in any given situation
ISSN:
2181-3906
2023
International scientific journal
«MODERN SCIENCE АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 2 / ISSUE 6 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
1019
1.
5 characteristics of critical thinking
What defines critical thinking? How does it affect the decision-making process? Here
are five characteristics that make up the ability to think critically.
2.
1. Dispositions
Critical thinkers have specific traits that allow them to think the way they do. Some
people are predisposed to these traits, while others need to develop them actively.
Some of these dispositions include:
Respecting evidence and reasoning
Being able to consider different perspectives and points of view: in other
words, having cognitive flexibility
Not being stuck in one position
Skepticism
Clarity and precision
3.
2. Argument
Good critical thinkers need to make solid arguments.
An argument is making a statement aided by supporting evidence. It’s important to use
well thought-out arguments when you’re in a constructive conflict. When analyzing a
situation critically, you’ll need to make several arguments in your own mind to come to a
judgment.
4.
3. Reasoning
In addition to arguments, critical thinking also requires inferring conclusions. From
the facts and arguments presented to you, you need to use reasoning skills to come to a logical
conclusion.
This conclusion will determine the best course of action to take.
5.
4. Criteria
Critical thinking is sometimes a matter of discerning truth from fiction. Not all facts
presented to you may have the same level of truth. Certain conditions need to be met for
something to be considered believable, and a critical thinker needs to be able to understand
that.
6.
5. Metacognition
Metacognition is the ability to think about your own thinking. Critical thinkers should
be able to analyze their thoughts so that they can judge whether or not they’ve thought
everything through. This helps them come up with better hypotheses.
7.
What are critical thinking skills, and why are they important?
The critical thinking skills definition is: soft skills that help you in the critical thinking
process. Developing these skills can improve your ability to think critically.
Critical thinking skills are considered one of many durable skills in the workplace.
Many of these are soft skills that are also useful in other situations.
According to research by America Succeeds, critical thinking is in the top five most
requested durable skills in job postings. Those top five durable skills get requested 2. 6x more
often than the top five hard skills. This goes to show that soft skills like critical thinking skills
are in demand in the workplace.
ISSN:
2181-3906
2023
International scientific journal
«MODERN SCIENCE АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 2 / ISSUE 6 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
1020
Critical thinking skills are important for several reasons. These include helping
you work independently and solve problems. Not all positions require ongoing critical
thinking. But, those skills definitely matter to anyone who wants to uplevel their career. And
even the most easygoing positions require at least some level of critical thinking skills.
For example, working as an accountant can be straightforward in most cases. But it
may require critical thinking skills. For instance, what if certain expenses aren’t easily
distributed in simple categories? Without critical thinking skills, an accountant will struggle
to work independently and solve problems on their own.
Critical thinking abilities also matter in everyday life. Having a foundation for critical
thinking can help you analyze several possible solutions for problems that pop up in the home.
It can also help you:
Analyze different viewpoints
Come up with the best solution for complex problems
Become a better learner
8.
6 key critical thinking skills
Let’s explore these six critical thinking skills you should learn and why they’re so
important to the critical thinking process.
9.
1. Identifying biases
This critical thinking skill is necessary for metacognition, which is the fifth
characteristic of critical thinking. It involves knowing when others have a cognitive bias and
when you have one yourself.
Biases can influence how someone understands the facts presented to them. But when
you’re aware of those biases, you can question yourself on those biases and consider other
points of view.
Identifying biases is especially important for people who make hiring decision s. That’s
because biases against groups of minorities can lead to inequalities in the workplace when
not identified.
For example, imagine a hiring manager comparing two resumes. Their gut feeling
could guide them to discount one of the resumes due to a bias against the opposite gender.
But let’s say this hiring manager realizes they have this bias. They can then question
themselves on whether or not this bias is influencing their judgment.
10.
2. Inference
Inference is the ability to draw conclusions based on the information you have.
Without inference, it can be difficult to take action once you’ve analyzed the facts presented
to you. Processing information is key to coming up with a reasoned judgment.
For example, let’s go back to the accountant struggling to assign the correct category
to a business expense. They can analyze other similar situations and infer the most logical
category based on that information.
11.
3. Research
Before you analyze facts and infer a conclusion, you need to find out what those facts
are. Researching skills allow you to discover facts and figures to make an argument.
ISSN:
2181-3906
2023
International scientific journal
«MODERN SCIENCE АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 2 / ISSUE 6 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
1021
Not all situations will have the required information available to you . Researching
skills are necessary to dig into a situation and gather the information you need to think
critically.
Some situations don’t require further research. For example, a first responder who
arrives on the scene of an automobile accident won’t perform further research. They’ll have
to analyze what they see in front of them and decide which injuries are the most urgent to
care for.
On the other hand, someone performing a market analysis will need to research
competitors and gather information before coming up with an opinion.
12.
4. Identification
Identification is different from inference and research. It involves being able to
identify a problem but also what’s influencing that problem.
In short, identification is necessary for someone to realize that they need to think
critically about something. Without proper identification skills, it will be difficult for
someone to know when it’s time to analyze a situation.
For example, let’s say you’re entering numbers in a spreadsheet. The numbers aren’t
coming out as they usually do. Without identification skills, you could easily keep going
without realizing there’s an issue. But when you identify what’s going on, you can see that
something is broken in the spreadsheet’s formula.
Only once you identify the fact that the formula is broken can you start analyzing
what’s going on to solve the issue.
13.
5. Curiosity
Don’t be afraid to question everything and explore what you’re curious about. That’s
because intellectual curiosity is a valuable skill, especially when it comes to critical thinking.
One way to practice curiosity is to adopt a beginner’s mindset. When you come into
every situation with the mindset of a beginner, you’re able to keep an open mind. You’ll be
able to perceive things you may not have noticed when keeping your mind closed.
6. Judging relevance
Not all information is equally pertinent. In order to make a critical judgment, it’s
important to be able to judge the relevance of the information you have.
Take, for instance, basic online researching skills. You have access to a plethora of
information on virtually every topic imaginable. But performing online research requires you
to constantly judge the relevance of what you see.
Without judging relevance, you’d spend too much time on details that don’t matter as
much for the final desired outcome. But when you’re able to discern what’s most pertinent ,
you can give that information more weight as you’re thinking critically.
Critical thinking skills: a real-life example
So what would critical thinking skills look like in a real-life situation?
Let’s imagine you’re working in software quality assurance (QA) as a team lead. But
every time your team needs to enter bug regression, everyone gets bottlenecked because you
must manually populate the spreadsheet used for the regression. While you do this task, your
team cannot be productive without you.
ISSN:
2181-3906
2023
International scientific journal
«MODERN SCIENCE АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 2 / ISSUE 6 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
1022
This process happens once a week and easily wastes half an hour for each team
member.
First, you must identify what’s going on. The team gets bottlenecked because only
you, as the team lead, can access the information required to fill in the regression spreadsheet .
Next, you can research information. You can inquire to higher-ups about the reason
why only you have access to this information. You can also speak to other teams about what
potential solutions they’ve come up with to solve this problem.
Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to analyze the information and judge
relevance. Some teams have solutions that don’t apply to you, so that information isn’t
relevant anymore.
Figure out if there are any personal biases before you analyze your information.
For example, it’s possible that you don’t get along with one of the other team leads.
As a result, you could discount the information they’ve given you. But by identifying this
bias, you can look past your personal opinion of this person and see how valuable t heir
solution is.
Based on what you’ve analyzed, it’s time to brainstorm and come up with a solution.
You realize that creating a simple, automated script will save your tea m’s time. And it will
do so without consuming too many resources from the engineering department.
Next, present your solution to your manager. Explain how you came to this
conclusion.
Now, let’s say your spreadsheet automation solution is approved. It’s important to go
back and analyze what happens after implementing the solution. But only do this once the
spreadsheet has been in place for long enough to gather plenty of information.
Here’s an example. You could realize that the solution did solve the bottleneck. But,
the script also slows down the spreadsheet and makes it difficult to work with. This would
require you to go back to the drawing board and start the process all over again.
13 ways to start thinking critically
Want to start improving your own critical thinking skill sets? Here’s how you can
improve critical thinking skills using 13 techniques:
1.
Play games that require critical thinking skills
2.
Ask more questions, even basic ones
3.
Question your assumptions
4.
Develop your technical skills so that you can identify problems more easily
5.
Find ways to solve more problems (at work and at home)
6.
Become aware of your mental processes, like the availability heuristic
7.
Think for yourself: don’t adopt other people’s opinions without questioning them first
8.
Seek out diversity of thought
9.
Start developing foresight
10.
Try active listening
11.
Weigh the consequences of different actions before you act
12.
Seek a mentor who can help you develop these skills
13.
ISSN:
2181-3906
2023
International scientific journal
«MODERN SCIENCE АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 2 / ISSUE 6 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
1023
How to improve your critical thinking skills
Critical thinking skills aren’t always easy to develop. But it’s much easier to start thinking
critically when you have someone to work with.
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Muminov A. English Lexicology. T.2006
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Ginzburg. R.Y., Xidekel.S.S., Knyazeva.G.Y., Sankin.A.A.; A course in
Modern English Lexicology., M.,1979
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Arnold .I.V. The English Word. M.,1986
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